


Lying in the Shadows

by loves_sorrow



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Vigilantes, Blood and Injury, Detective Hinata, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma Friendship, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Police Officer Sawamura Daichi, Vigilante Kageyama, other characters not tagged
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loves_sorrow/pseuds/loves_sorrow
Summary: Hinata Shouyou is a detective working on a case when he gets wrapped up in a complicated series of events with murders, vigilantes, and assassins.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. Anonymous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **There's violence and death in this chapter- it's not super graphic but still be warned.**

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?” Yui squeaked, scrambling backward and bumping into a large dumpster.

The parking lot was dark and the figure before her was tall and steadily moving closer. Soft moonlight glinted off a knife in the shadow’s hand, causing the hair on the back of her neck prickle up. 

“Look, you don’t have to worry about me! Nothing’s going to happen!”

The only response was the soft crunch of gravel underfoot. Yui felt the cold metal against through the back of her t-shirt. She glanced to the side, looking for a way out. This was not how the night was supposed to go. This was not how her life was supposed to go. She squeezed her eyes shut and thrust her arms out in defense as a hand wrapped around her neck.

“Please! Please!” She choked out.

The hand gripped tighter and Yui felt a sharp pain under her jaw followed by a rush of warmth down her side. Suddenly, the hand dropped away and she heard a shrill cry of pain from the attacker as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her neck. She was beginning to feel cold and her surroundings were starting to fade but she could hear the thump of punches landing mingling with deep grunts of pain. Then, silence. She opened her eyes, trying to look around and stay awake as the dark closed in. 

“Shit. Give me your phone.” A voice said by her head. Gloved hands rolled her over and searched her pockets before the phone ringing echoed into the night followed by the click of the line connecting.

“Quick, there’s a woman here, she’s been stabbed. Behind the Eagle’s Nest. Hurry.”

 _Stabbed?_ Yui could barely comprehend the words. She couldn’t breathe. A heaviness was descending over her body. She barely heard the receding footsteps, the crunching gravel, as the operator repeatedly questioned thin air.

“Are you there? Has the victim lost blood? Hello? Hello? He--” 

Everything slipped away. 

~

_Ring! Ring!_

Hinata Shouyou tapped his foot impatiently as the other end of the line rang. He checked his watch. _Tuesday,_ _2:56 AM._ He’d finally slipped into a light sleep when Police Chief Sawamura Daichi called him. _Another one,_ he had said, _Get Kozume._

“What.” Kenma answered the phone.

“It’s me; there’s another. Daichi said the Eagle’s Nest Bar.”

“You sound too excited.” 

“Get out of bed. I’ll pick you up in 15.”

_Click._

Hinata was up and dressed in a flash, pulling on his clothes, shoving a toothbrush in his mouth, and checking his messy orange hair in the bathroom mirror (but once again giving up on taming it). He knew he shouldn’t be so energetic about this sort of thing but he had a feeling that they’d finally find something tonight. It’d been two weeks since the last _incident,_ and the last time the scene had been squeaky clean. Hinata didn’t like knowing that crime was happening in his town on a regular day but being stumped at the scene was even more frustrating. Especially in his first major case. 

He threw on a heavy black jacket over his tan hoodie and grabbed an energy drink from the fridge before snatching up his keys and running out the door. It was gonna be a cold, long night. The drive to Kenma’s was quiet, though he could feel his blood buzzing through his veins. This is why he became a detective. He wasn’t necessarily the brightest of the applicants to the force but he held an unwavering commitment to the job and a determination to prove his worth as a detective. He’d been lucky that Kenma was there to balance out his “wild” behavior (as Daichi would call it) and they made a good team. 

As if he’d been waiting by the door, Kenma appeared in his apartment doorway as Hinata pulled up. The red-head smiled. Kozume Kenma didn’t show much enthusiasm for anything (maybe the occasional video game) but he’d begun to notice little things like the way his eyes shone on a call and how quickly he showed up at the door that told Hinata he was excited about a case. 

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

“Just drive Shouyou.” Kenma yawned as he climbed inside the black car. 

“You’re no fun. We’re gonna get something tonight, I can feel it. Wake up and get ready!”

As they arrived at the scene, the flashing red and blue lights pierced through the dark of the morning, illuminating the parking lot. The street lamps surrounding the lot were in disarray, neglecting to shed any light on the open space. Across the darkness, Hinata could see the outline of a few cars and figures surrounding a dumpster. He recognized the Chief of Police as well as a couple of other officers. They silently climbed out of the car and approached the group.

“Ah, Hinata, Kozume. Welcome to the party.” Daichi said glumly.

“What’ve we got, Chief?” Hinata asked, slightly too enthusiastically.

“One victim: Michimiya Yui. Stabbed. Time of death: approximately an hour ago.”

“Yeah, but the weird thing was that it was called in by an anonymous man on the victim’s cell phone.” A short police officer chimed in.

“Noya! Glad to not be the shortest one here!” Hinata grinned. It had been a while since he’d seen his friend and the only officer on the force shorter than he was. Though while Hinata spent his time doing detective work and rarely in action, Nishinoya Yuu could probably take a full-grown regular-height man down without breaking a sweat. 

“Shouyou!” Noya laughed and raised his hand for a high five, “Aren’t you looking just as tall as ever.”

“Will you guys please shut up? It’s barely after 3 AM and we’re at a goddamn murder scene.”

“Well, it’s great to see you, too, Tsukishima.” Hinata rolled his eyes.

“He’s right. You have a job to do, you’re not here to socialize. I don’t know how you have all this energy at this time in the morning.” Daichi sighed. 

“Yes, Dad-chi,” Hinata mumbled before receiving a deadly stare from the chief. “I mean, yes sir! C’mon Kenma.”

He pulled a pair of powdery blue gloves from his coat pocket and approached a taped-off section of the lot. Before him, lay a woman’s body. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and her short brown hair was sticking out in all directions. Her neck was caked in damp blood and the black handle of a knife was visible, the blade still hidden in her skin. 

“I don’t see any obvious M.O.” Hinata ducked under the tape and shuffled around the body, dropping to a squat to get a better look at the knife, “Kenma, do you see any familiar marks or injuries?”

“No. But there’s this.”

Hinata looked up and over at his partner who was pointing at the ground near a yellow evidence marker. He stood and walked over, finding a series of jumbled footprints.

“There are two sets of prints here. And they’re not hers.” Kenma whispered.

“Why are you always so quiet? I can barely hear you.” Hinata huffed circling the footprints. “It looks like some sort of fight.”

“Can’t get anything past our top detectives. Lucky for you we’ve already got photos and samples of those blood spatters you’re walking in.” A voice called from outside the police tape. 

Hinata blanched, looking down to see dust settling over a couple of streaks of blood in the sparse gravel. “Aw, not again. Sorry, Suga.”

“Don’t worry. I know you well enough to childproof the scene before you arrive.” Sugawara chuckled with a soft smile. What a gentle, kind man like Sugawara Koushi was doing in crime scene investigation was a question that baffled many new members of the force and members of the general public. However, those who had gotten the chance to work with him, knew that Suga was sharp as a tack and quick as a whip with a passion for his job, making him one of the most important and integral parts of their team. 

“Why didn’t you warn me, Kenma?” Hinata whined.

His partner shrugged, putting his hair up into a messy bun, “Suga knows you well enough.”

~ 

The sun was beginning to rise by the time Hinata, Kenma, and the rest of the crime scene attendees let the coroner remove the body from the parking lot. People would be waking up soon and while the Eagle’s Nest bar didn’t attract attention in the morning, a ring of police cars and caution tape almost always did. Having decided they’d pulled all the evidence they needed to get a solid start, the detective pair left the scene and made their way to the police station. After a much-needed breakfast, Hinata spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon and evening at his desk pouring over crime scene photos and waiting for any sort of update on the blood or the state of the body. 

“There were three people. The victim. The attacker. The unknown caller who may or may not be another attacker.”

“Here we go again.”

“I’m telling you, we’re missing something, Kenma!”

“You’ve already said that. Multiple times.”

“Whatever. But if he was an attacker, why was there evidence of a fight?”

“The caller probably didn’t think they were gonna kill someone.”

“But there were only two pairs of prints leading to the scene. It was like the caller appeared out of thin air!”

“Stop romanticizing. They may have been covered.”

“But what if they weren’t together? What if he saw the attack? What if-”

“I got the security footage,” Daichi interrupted, tossing a flash drive at Hinata who snatched it up.

Without a word, Hinata plugged the drive into his desktop and opened the video file in question. A split-screen video appeared on screen with four sections: one panel showing the parking lot, one the front door of the bar, one the front sidewalk, and one the back of the building. 

_2:08 AM,_ the time stamp read. Nothing. _2:09 AM. 2:10 AM._ As the minute switched from 0 to 1, the two front video streams and the parking lot camera when black. No static, no indication of being knocked out, just black. 

“God damn it,” Hinata hissed. 

“Shit. We’re gonna have to go talk to the owner and see if the camera or footage has been tampered with.” Daichi said firmly, “Hinata, take care of that first thing in the morning. Kozume, you’ll be with me at the brief press conference.”

“But Kenma barely even talks!”

“Exactly, he can’t go question the bar owner. Take Tsukishima if you don’t want to go alone.”

“I’d rather do it myself,” Hinata grumbled. 

“Well, take him with you anyway. But finish watching the recording first and report to me immediately if there are any leads.”

~~ 

The sun was beginning to dip toward the horizon when Kageyama arrived back at his apartment. He limped into the bathroom, dropping his jacket on the cool tile floor. He grabbed a towel from the cupboard, soaking it lightly with warm water before rubbing it over his face. The soft white fabric came away from his face stained with tan makeup and a couple of flecks of lingering blood. With a tired gaze, Kageyama looked up at himself in the mirror as he leaned over the sink. A darkening bruise sat on his cheekbone, edges still blurred with makeup. He sighed, tomorrow would be another day of makeup and a conservative outfit. He was sure other bruises were forming on his sides and arms, he could feel their stiffness. 

_Shit._ He hung his head. _Another one died and I couldn’t even stop them from getting away with it._

He clenched his fists, knuckles burning. Tomorrow he’d keep looking. Tomorrow no one would die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. This one's a completely different vibe from what I'm used to but I'm having fun with it. Hope y'all like it :) As always comments/criticism/questions are always welcome. (also, come hang out with me on Tumblr - https://lovessorrow.tumblr.com/ - there may or may not be some art accompanying this fic....)


	2. Watching

“Will you slow down?”

“Will you stop, Tsukishima? I’m not even going that fast.” Hinata huffed as they sped through town. Tsukishima Kei never failed to get on his nerves. He didn’t know why Daichi had forced them to go to the bar together. It didn’t take more than one person to ask questions about security footage. 

They pulled into the parking lot. The yellow caution tape still wrapped around the dumpster and gently stained gravel. Hinata remembered the scene from the day before and frowned. They needed to get good information today, nothing else had turned up to give them a lead.

“Tsukki, why don’t you go in first, I want to take one more look.” He gestured to the roped-off area. 

“Don’t call me that,” Tsukishima grumbled, but got out of the car and headed toward the front door of the bar. 

Hinata walked slowly toward the dumpster. Where had Yui been going? There wasn’t a car found at the scene. Was she running from her attacker? Where did the third person come from? Who was he? There were a million unanswered questions racing through his mind. Unsurprisingly, no new evidence had appeared overnight. 

Hinata sighed.  _ Better go check on Kei. _ He meandered slowly toward the bar. A soft crunch caught his attention, like the sound of something landing on the gravel. He spun around. Nothing. A crow dipped low overhead and Hinata shrugged off the sound. It was probably just a bird or small animal. He was definitely on edge -- maybe he shouldn’t have had so much coffee earlier. 

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

Hinata could hear the irritation in Tsukishima's voice as he pulled open the door to the bar. 

“What do you mean?”

“I told you, I don’t know what happened to the cameras. They all seem to be working now and the office is under lock and key. I’m the only one who can get in and I did not tamper with those videos.”

“Well, that’s convenient.”

“What’s going on?” Hinata butted in. 

The bar owner turned to him as he walked in. Hinata could see the irritation in his face. 

“None of your business. Who are you, shorty?”

“I’m Hinata Shouyou, detective.” He pulled his badge from a clip on his belt and showed it to the man. “You’re the owner of this bar?”

The man grumbled an apology, “Yeah, Washijou Tanji.”

“He was telling me that the cameras and video haven’t been tampered with in any way, to which I was saying that’s impossible.”

Hinata furrowed his brow, “Oh. Could you show us how you access the film?”

Wordlessly, the older man turned on his heel and led them toward the back of the building. 

“Here’s the office.” He pulled out a key ring. “Here’s the one key.”

Once inside the small space, Hinata looked around. There wasn’t much in the office and he didn’t see any obvious signs of someone forcing their way into the office. Still, Tsukki was right, there was something weird about the footage. 

“Okay. We may have to bring someone in to see if there’s anything to recover from this computer-- just in case. Thank you for letting us take a look.” He offered a polite smile to the bar owner, who’s unwavering frown stayed firmly in place.

He and Tsukki walked briskly back to the parking lot. 

“He’s obviously hiding something. We’re going to have to see what’s on that computer.”

“Yeah.” Hinata chewed his lip.  _ Something’s going on _ .

“You’ve got a weird look on your face. Don’t do that.” Tskukishima glared as they got into the car and started the short drive back to the station.

“Do what?”

“Look like you’re thinking.”

“I am thinking! I think quite a lot, thank you!”

~

Hinata returned to his desk moments before Kenma came padding back into their shared space. 

“How was the press conference?”

“Boring” 

“Really? What did they talk about? Anything we didn’t know? Anyone cool show up?”

“No. It’s not like we’re going to learn anything from a short press conference.”

“Yeah, but what if someone had come to the press conference for a dramatic confession? Or maybe you could’ve gotten another call during the press conference?”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“I’m still your best friend, though!”

Kemna pouted. “What about your trip to the bar?”

“It was weird. Something’s going on, Kenma.”   


“You keep saying that.”

“The owner, who’s really kind of creepy, told us that there’s no way the footage had been tampered with. But it totally has, right? So he’s got to be covering something up!”

“Hm. Are you sure there’s no way it could be a technical issue?”

“Someone’ll have to look at the computer it was stored on, but it was three cameras at once.”

“You think he could’ve done it?”

“Dunno...Maybe.”

“Daichi said we got some results from the autopsy.”

“And you didn’t mention it earlier?! What did it say?”

“You can read it. Pretty much says the cause of death was stabbing. Shocker.”

“Nothing weird?”

“Weird?” 

“You know what I mean.”

“Suga doesn’t have anything much. Just shoe prints again.”

"The same ones?"

Kenma nodded.

“So there was a connection!” Hinata nearly flung himself from his chair and on to Kenma. “I knew it!” If the same shoe prints were showing up at multiple murder scenes, something _had_ to be connecting them.

“Doesn’t help if we can’t identify them.”

“But it could be the man who called in!”

“We don’t know that. Besides, with Yachi gone, Suga’s been slow on analysis of the scene so you’ll have to be patient.”

Hinata frowned to himself. The unexpected departure of one of their best forensic scientists had put a damper on their processing times. Not only that but he knew he usually jumped to conclusions a little too fast (in which case Kenma was there to be the voice of reason) -- but something about his theory just felt...right. He wheeled over a whiteboard, positioned it next to his desk, and pulled out a folder from his desk. From the folder, he produced crime scene photos from the day before as well as from previous murders. He began labelling the board as he pinned the photos up. 

_ Michimiya Yui - Eagle’s Nest - Stabbed.  _

_ Shirabu Kenjirou - Railroad tracks & 1st avenue - Shot.  _

_ Haiba Lev - Field ½ West of Eagle’s Nest - Stabbed. _

With a red whiteboard pen, Hinata drew a single line between all three labels.  _ Unidentified shoes, _ He labelled it.  _ There’s some sort of bigger connection. There must be. _

~

It was already dark as Hinata was grabbing his jacket and preparing to leave for the day. He bit his lip; if there wasn’t anything in the photos or gathered evidence maybe he would have to be proactive about his investigation. He was off duty, what was the harm in one drink?

_ Shou: Ur off duty right?? Lets grab a drink! _

_ Noya: Yup! Lets gooo _

_ Noya: Where?? _

_ Shou: Eagles nest _

_ Noya: ?? Ok but u better not be working _

Hinata shrugged as he left the station and called a ride.  _ He doesn’t need to know. _

_ Shou: course not! Meet me there im on my way _

Hinata thanked the driver and hopped out of the car.  _ There’s a lot of people here even though a murder happened just over there.  _ He headed inside, sitting on a barstool with a clear view of the room. Drunken shouts echoed through the bar as he looked around. 

“What can I get ya, smalls?” A voice said from behind the bar, startling him.

“Oh! Oh, uh… just a beer I guess, whatever you have.” 

The bartender chuckled as he poured Hinata a pint, his red hair and wide eyes glinting in the dim lighting. “Do you always dress so… pretentious when you go to a dive bar?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hinata stiffened. Out of all the days he’d chosen to wear a tie to work it had to have been today. “Just work clothes. Do you always interrogate your customers?” He shifted in his seat, making sure his jacket covered the badge clipped to his belt as he remembered that, too. 

“Shou!” 

He was relieved to see Noya striding toward him. The shorter man ordered a pina colada (who actually does that?) and turned to his friend.

“Good to see you outside of a murder scene, Hinata!” Yuu smiled, “You’d better not be working while we’re here! You need a break so you can go in tomorrow and crack open the case.”

Hinata was about to open his mouth to protest when Noya’s eyes widened and he leapt to his feet.

“Tanaka! What are you doing here?! Sorry, Shou, I’ll just be a minute!” He rushed toward the other side of the bar where a man, Tanaka presumably, was waving at him.

_ So much for company _ , Hinata frowned. He resumed his observation of the bar and its patrons. Noya and Tanaka were off in one corner with a long-haired man and a shockingly beautiful woman. In the other corner was a group of guys huddled intensely around a pool table.  _ No one gets that into pool. _ He rolled his eyes and was taking a swig of his beer when the hairs on his neck pricked up, almost like he was being watched. Looking around the room again, he didn’t see any eyes on him but it was almost as if a shadow lingered in his peripheral vision.  _ Something’s off. _ He continued to drink, watching the other customers while trying to catch the figure that was just out of sight. 

As he finished his beer, he took a deep breath and tapped his foot. Noya was still preoccupied with his friends and Hinata didn’t have the mental capacity for anything but the case. Maybe some fresh air and another look at the parking lot would help ease his stress. Walking outside didn’t seem to ease the feeling of being watched, but he chalked it up to the pressure he felt from the murders. Someone needed to solve the cases and quickly-- before another victim could appear.

Hinata walked toward the back of the building, looking for the one camera that had stayed on during the attack. If he could just find out why the other cameras had gone off...

A rustling caught his attention and Hinata froze. He was about to turn around to investigate when a hand clapped over his mouth and he was thrown off balance. 

“Shh!” 

Hinata found himself pressed into the wall on the back of the building, arms pinned behind his back and face against the rough brick.

“I know what you’re here for.” A deep, distorted voice whispered by his ear.

“What the fuck! Let me--”

“Shut up, idiot! They’ll hear you! Just listen to me. You need to stop investigating this right now. You’re no match for them. They know you’re looking and if you get too close, they’ll kill you.”

“Who the fuck is ‘they’? How do you know what I’m here for? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“I could see your badge and I know who you are. You’re detective Hinata Shouyou. You’re not very subtle. Don’t tell anyone about this and don’t say I didn’t warn you if you get hurt or killed.”

With that, the pressure on Hinata’s back was gone. He pulled away from the wall and rubbed his wrists.  _ What the fuck? _

~

Hinata couldn’t help but stare at the blank monitor. He’d been so shaken after his encounter the previous night that he’d called a ride home and all but forgot about Noya. Luckily, his friend was forgiving and, after a worried phone call, let it go. He knew he should probably report it, it was likely just some drunk guy or weird person… but Hinata couldn’t let go of what the unknown man had said to him.  _ “Don’t tell anyone… don’t say I didn’t warn you…” _

“Earth to Shouyou.”

“Huh?”

“Did you even hear what Daichi said?” Kenma sighed.

“What? No?”

“You’re the worst. They filled the forensic scientist position so Suga can pick up the pace on the crime scene analysis.”

“It’s about time! Losing Yachi was really a disaster. Who is it?”

“His name is Kageyama Tobio.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, things have been busy and unproductive but here's chapter 2. Thanks for reading :) come say hi on Tumblr! https://lovessorrow.tumblr.com/


	3. Bruises

Hinata and Kenma walked up the stairs in near silence, heading toward the forensics lab. It was Daichi’s suggestion that they go check on Suga and meet the new scientist. Hinata obliged reluctantly; he didn’t like being torn away from his notes and Kenma looked like he was going to sink through the floor at the mention of meeting someone new. 

“Come on Kenma, he’s probably a nice guy. Suga wouldn’t approve of hiring someone he didn’t like.”

Kenma just mumbled as they walked through the door and hovered at the entrance, spotting Sugawara on the other side of the room.

“Suga!” Hinata called.

“Hinata, Kozume, what are you guys doing up here?” Suga smiled and pulled off his gloves and mask as he walked over to greet them.

“Daichi said to come say hello and meet the new guy.”

“Oh, sure. Kageyama, where’d you go?”

“Here.” 

“Come say hi.”

A black-haired blue-eyed man appeared from behind a computer. He was handsome and tall, even taller than Suga, and had a slightly annoyed look on his face. 

“Kenma, Shouyou, this is Kageyama Tobio. Kageyama, this is Hinata Shouyou and Kozume Kenma. Shouyou and Kenma are the detectives working the Eagle’s Nest case.”

Kageyama glanced at Kenma before looking Hinata over from head to toe, smirking. “I didn’t think detectives could be so small.”

Hinata’s cheeks flushed, _who does this guy think he is?_

Suga chuckled, “He may be small but these two make a great team!”

Eyebrows raised, Kageyama nodded, eyeing Hinata once more and returning to where he was working before the interruption. 

“Don’t mind him, he’s pretty shy and seems a little awkward.”

“That’s not an excuse to harass someone for their height.” Hinata sent a pointed look toward the other man. His gaze was met head-on by striking blue eyes and he promptly looked away, flustered.

“I wouldn’t call that harassment, Shou.” Kenma sighed. “Let’s just go back to work.”

“Whatever.”

“Wait a minute. Before you go, we got some blood from the scene that wasn’t from the victim. We haven’t identified it yet, but we think we might actually get somewhere, right Kageyama?”

The dark-haired man offered a skeptical shrug. 

“That would be fantastic, Suga! Let us know as soon as you know anything!”

“Of course!” Suga gave a little wave as the detectives exited the lab. 

Once outside in the hallway, Hinata scowled. “What was Suga thinking? That Kageyama guy was so rude!”

Kenma shrugged. “You are short.”

“Shut up.”

~

“C’mon Hinata, Kozume. We’re all going out to get a drink.” Daichi hovered behind the detectives.

“What? When we have a case to work?”

“Hinata, you owe me for ditching me! Besides, we’re celebrating Kageyama being hired. We gotta welcome him to the family.” Noya leaned on the back of Hinata’s chair.

 _Great, exactly who I want to celebrate._ “Kenma obviously doesn’t want to go. I’ll stay here and keep him company.” 

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go.”

“What?!”

After the initial shock of Kenma volunteering to socialize, Hinata found himself dragged to a bar on the other side of town. He’d never been there before; it had opened recently and he never had any reason to go all the way out there. A dance floor took up a good chunk of the building and it was packed for a weekday. 

“Thirsty Thursday!” Noya yelled, handing him a drink.

“What is this?” 

“Dunno, just drink it!”

The group settled at a table in the corner. Hinata tucked himself between the wall and Kenma, sipping his drink and staring into space. Usually he’d be running around with Noya at group outings but with all of the details of the murders swirling in his mind, he wasn’t in the mood for additional chaos. Maybe a couple of drinks would help. 

And help they did. Before long, Hinata found himself laughing and joking around loudly with the others. He wrapped his arms around Kenma who looked like he was deeply regretting his choice. Kenma, Tsukishima, and Kageyama were all sitting quietly and looking annoyed. Suddenly, Kageyama stood up from his chair at the head of the table and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. 

“Psh. Who does he think he is? We come here--we come out to welcome his dumb butt to the job and he d-doesn’t care!” Hinata yelled, words slurred slightly.

“It’s his party he can do what he wants!” Noya shot back, taking another gulp of his drink and pushing yet another glass toward Hinata.

“That’s enough for you two.” Suga grabbed both drinks. “Tobio isn’t very social, this isn’t his type of outing. He’s not as… energetic as some of us.”

“But you saw how he looked at me before! So rude!”

“Rude?” Suga chuckled. “Looked to me like he was checking you out.”

“That’s bull. He’s a stupid butthole. Stupid-yama.”

“Did you see his arms, though? Pretty nice...” Noya offered.

Hinata had just opened his mouth to protest when the bar was plunged into darkness. He heard startled voices from around the room, a couple of surprised yelps, and the sound of chairs being knocked over. 

“Are you all okay? Stay calm.” He could hear Daichi’s voice as they got to their feet.

The lights returned as quickly as they had gone out, making Hinata’s head spin.

“You all wait here, Tsukishima and I will go check on everything.”

Daichi and Tsukishima disappeared into the confused crowd. It wasn’t long before they returned and beckoned for the others to follow them outside.

“There doesn’t seem to be any problem, but I think it’s time for us to all head home. Hinata, Nishinoya, you’re coming with me. I’ll take you home.”

“Daichi,” Suga piped up, “Where’s Kageyama?”

No one knew. Suga headed back into the bar to look for his new coworker. Kenma and Tsukishima went to check around the back entrance leaving Daichi, Noya, and Hinata to wait at the front. A few minutes passed and the crowd in the bar seemed to get louder and louder.

Suga reappeared with Kenma and Tsukki. “The bartender said he saw a man that looked like Kageyama call a cab and leave. Maybe he was uncomfortable with the group or something. I’ll check in on him, I have his number.”

“Okay.” Daichi frowned. “I’m going to take these two home. Get home safely.”

~

The morning greeted Hinata in the form of a pounding headache. He shuffled into the police station and dropped into his desk chair next to a silent Kenma. He was pulling out some papers when Sugawara ducked into the office.

“You guys never saw Kageyama as you were leaving, right?”

“Shh...no.” Hinata whispered.

Suga frowned, “He called in sick today and isn’t returning my calls.”

“What are you, his mother?” Kenma mumbled.

“No, but I’m worried. He disappeared and then didn’t come in today.”

“He probably is just sick. Maybe he left last night because he didn’t feel well.”

“Yeah, Kenma’s right. Can you quietly go away now?”

A couple of days passed before Kageyama returned to work, looking tired and pale. Hinata dropped by the lab, impatiently waiting for results on the unidentified blood only to find that Sugawara was out for the afternoon and Kageyama was the only one there. 

“Hey… You wouldn’t happen to know if Suga left any results for me, would you?” 

Kageyama didn’t move from his seat. “No. We don’t have anything new.” 

“Again?” Hinata huffed.

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow and stood up. “Suga’s in charge of those results. I’m just helping out. If you have a problem, take it up with him when he gets back.” 

“Well I don’t think missing work for three days has been very helpful. Sorry for trying to solve someone’s murder.”

“I was sick, dumbass. And it’s not like that murder is the only thing that happens around here.”

“Oh I didn’t realize petty theft required so much forensic work, stupid-yama.” Hinata nearly clapped a hand over his mouth as he let slip the nickname. 

Kageyama approached him slowly, an unreadable look on his face. “You can leave the lab now.”

Hinata gulped and looked up at the man. He nodded and turned to leave but not before he caught sight of a bruise peeking out from under Kageyama’s collar. It looked like it was partially covered with makeup but Hinta could still make out the purple and yellow tones of what looked like a nasty injury. 

“Are you okay?” He blurted without thinking.

“What are you talking about, idiot? Why wouldn’t I be?” Kageyama shuffled uncomfortably, causing his shirt to hide the bruise from sight.

“You uh...um, nothing. I have to go.” Hinata hurried from the room. Judging by the coat of makeup, Kageyama didn’t want anyone seeing the bruise. Maybe he’d had an accident of some sort. It could be anything. But Hinata couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something else.

~

The days turned into weeks with no interesting results or leads from the lab or from any interviews they’d had with bar employees. There hadn’t even been any leads on the computer that stored the security footage. No traces of the unidentified caller or the murderer and Suga had said results from the blood sample were inconclusive. Hinata was getting more and more frustrated; he and Kenma were constantly racking their brains for missing information to no avail. 

Sugawara and Kageyama seemed to work tirelessly, making sure every piece of evidence was thoroughly examined. Though Kageyama still got on his nerves, Hinata couldn’t help but admit that he was good at his job. Meanwhile, he noticed that even though the bruise by Kageyama’s collar faded, the man had sported a couple of cuts and bruises on his wrists and hands, just small enough or hidden enough by his sleeves to not draw too much attention. He didn’t want to make the man angry by asking about them but as his curiosity grew, so did his concern. 

“What are you staring at, idiot?” Kageyama snapped as he poured his coffee across the breakroom.

“Huh? Just blown away by how stupid your face looks, dumbass.”

“Will you take your boyfriend and go get a room?” Tsukki grumbled.

“Shut up, Kei.” Hinata and Kageyama said in sync.

“Hinata!” Nishinoya tore into the room, startling the others. “Get Kozume, now! There’s another one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Productivity? Who is she? Now we're getting somewhere though... Thanks for reading :) Come hang out on tumblr - I'm @lovessorrow


	4. Masked

Hinata hung his head in his hands, staring at the white tiles of the floor. Things were getting bad if whoever was behind these attacks was bold enough to strike during the day. They’d barely been fast enough-- a few minutes later and the man they had found would have bled out. Glancing over at the man in the hospital bed, Hinata desperately hoped he’d be able to answer some questions. The man’s long hair was loose around his face and he was so tall and intimidating that Hinata couldn’t imagine how strong the attacker must have been. His face was bruised and swollen, but Hinata couldn’t shake the feeling that he was familiar somehow.

The man had been quickly sent to the hospital for emergency surgery and by the time he and Kenma reached the scene with Suga and Tsukishima, Daichi had told them that someone would have to go to the hospital immediately. Hinata was the first volunteer so he found himself sitting in a hospital room and texting Kenma to keep up to date. There hadn’t been any signs of anyone but the victim and one other attacker; the third unidentified person wasn’t there. _Is that why this guy survived? Last time, had the third person been another attacker?_ That didn’t fit Hinata’s mental image of the previous attack at all.

The door to the room flung open, interrupting Hinata’s thoughts. A pale and panting Nishinoya stood over him. His eyes flicked to the bed and immediately widened with a sharp gasp. 

“W-why?” He choked, rushing to the bedside, “Asahi!”

Hinata’s eyes widened. “You know him?” 

“Shouyou, tell me what happened!” 

Now he remembered. _The man from the bar! That’s why he had been so familiar!_

“We’ve been friends forever. I came from the station as soon as Daichi told me who it was.” Noya dragged the back of his hand across his face, wiping tears from his cheeks. “Tell me what happened!”

“I-I don’t know. Kenma said there was one attacker this time but we don’t know anything else besides the fact that he-- that Asahi barely made it out alive.” 

Noya braced himself against the frame of the bed and let his head drop forward. “Why would they attack him? He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” 

“The best we can do now is hope he’ll wake up and be able to tell us more.” Hinata frowned. He wished he had the answers; seeing Noya so distraught was hard. “I’ll go get us some coffee. He might not wake up soon, but we can wait.”

They spent the rest of the day and part of the night keeping watch over the man, quietly listening to the soft breaths and hum of medical equipment. Kenma texted occasionally, letting him know that small traces of blood had been found leading away from the scene and that Suga had found some torn fabric near where Asahi was found. In return, Hinata responded with short updates on their victim. So far, the report had been that Azumane Asahi had two broken ribs, a broken arm, and a number of other internal injuries including head trauma. Eventually, Hinata’s eyes started to close and his phone began to slip from his fingers.

“Shouyou,” Noya mumbled, “You should go home. Someone else will be sent to take over soon.”

“Oh. I guess.” Hinata yawned. “Are you staying here?”

Noya nodded. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright. You need to rest, too.” 

“Don’t worry about me. I want to be here for my friend.”

The heaviness of his eyelids was becoming too much. _I’ll go home for a few hours and then come back soon,_ Hinata nodded to himself. “I’ll be back.” 

He shuffled from the room, stretching out his back and arms. Everything was so stiff and his eyes were so tired he could barely tell if he was walking the right direction. He reached the elevator at the end of the hall and focused on staying awake. _Driving home is gonna be a bitch, isn’t it… but at least I’ll get to have a few hours of--_

 _CRASH_.

Hinata spun around, trying to locate the source of the sound. It was coming from the direction of Azumane’s hospital room. Sprinting, Hinata hurried back toward the room as fast as he could. Adrenaline filled his veins, waking him up as he reached the doorway of the room. A dark figure was standing over Nishinoya, pinning him down as he lay on to the white tile floor, his gun just barely out of reach. 

“Shouyou… Run,” Noya gasped.

The figure turned toward the doorway and Hinata saw a pair of stern brown eyes glaring at him from behind a mask. 

“Y-you’re the one that tried to kill Asahi, aren’t you?” Hinata stammered as he reached for his holstered gun.

“No. But I’m here to finish the job.” The man lunged at him, brandishing a knife.

Hinata grabbed the man’s arm, trying to get him to drop the knife, but was easily sent off-balance as the man shook him off and grabbed his gun with his other hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuu pull himself off the floor and attempt to tackle the attacker from behind. The masked man threw himself backward, slamming Noya between the wall and his much larger body before sending a punch into Hinata’s cheek. Hinata felt panic rising in his stomach as his colleague slumped to the floor, unconscious. _There’s no way I can take this guy alone. He’s huge._

“Get out of my way.”

Arms outspread, Hinata put himself between the man and Asahi’s bed. His head was spinning but standing down wasn’t an option. “You’ll have to kill me, too.”

The larger man laughed and slid his knife into his belt. He took a step forward, barely an arm’s length away, and raised the gun.

Hinata lifted his arms in defense as a single round was fired, hitting his left arm. He looked around. _No way he’d miss at that close of a distance._ Another figure had appeared in the room and a hand was now wrapped around the attacker’s wrist, diverting the bullet just enough to miss its target. 

“You!” The attacker grunted.

Hinata clutched his arm and doubled over. He saw the gun drop to the floor in front of him and heard the following struggle for the weapon, but couldn’t think straight. Two shots echoed through the room and the fight was over as quickly as it had started. 

Opening his eyes, Hinata looked up to see a hooded man in a dark mask standing over him. He scrambled back.

“Who are you?”

“Are you okay?” The figure asked.

 _I know that voice! The man from behind the bar!_ “What are you doing here?”

“I said, are you okay? That asshole is gone now.” The man’s tone shifted, annoyed.

“I’ll be fine. He hit me in the head pretty hard. Who the fuck are you? Why are you here?”

“No one important and none of your business.”

“Bullshit.”

“Look, I warned you,” The man grabbed Hinata’s arm and looked it over. “If I hadn’t been here, this would’ve been a lot worse.” 

Blue and red lights flickered over the walls by the window and sirens howled outside. The man hesitated momentarily before releasing Hinata’s arm and turning toward the door. “They don’t need to know I was here so we can make a trade. Don't tell them I was here and I'll give you something that can help you. Meet me tomorrow, alone. You’ll know where.” 

With that, the man disappeared from the room and Hinata heard his footsteps fade down the hall. Within moments, multiple officers rushed through the doorway. Hinata glanced over at Kenma as he was ushered from the room. His head pounded and his arm ached and once again the unidentified man’s words rang through his head. 

~

After being treated for a concussion and injured arm, Daichi pulled him aside to fill him in on how the floor of the hospital had been mysteriously emptied but that someone had anonymously called in to report the incident. There was no trace of the attacker outside of Asahi’s room but he and Noya had now seen the attacker and lived. The hours Hinata had planned to sleep were replaced with hours of recounting the few minutes of fighting but he couldn’t bring himself to tell about the hooded man. He pretended he’d been able to wrestle the gun away and the attacker left after being injured. Not even Noya knew about what had happened.

_Tomorrow… You’ll know where._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, there was a bit of a delay with this chapter and it's a little shorter. Everything's kind of been a mess recently but I'm getting by. Thanks for reading.


	5. Shadow

The early morning hours seemed to wear on and on. The more they discovered about the events of the night before, the less Hinata felt he knew. Kenma, Tsukishima, and Daichi had all spent their night at the hospital after hearing what happened, either sitting with Noya to fill him in or helping other officers secure the building. From what they had found, the attacker had managed to lure the nurses away from their posts, leaving an opening for him to slip into Asahi’s room. Noya told them he hadn’t seemed surprised to see someone else in the room. Everything had been planned. However, he hadn’t expected Hinata to show up and now they had some blood samples that Suga was confident he could use. 

Even with that, they still had no clue as to why Asahi was a target. Plus, the attacker had said that he wasn’t the one who had tried to kill Asahi earlier in the day, meaning there were at least two people responsible for this attack and possibly the others. Everyone was convinced that the second pair of footprints from the Michimiya murder was just another attacker. Kenma mumbled “I told you so” when he found out and Hinata opened his mouth to protest. He knew there was a third player. The unidentified caller from the Michimiya murder had to be the man who saved him. But Kenma couldn’t know that. Not yet.

By the time he was allowed to go home in the morning, Hinata was barely conscious. Tsukishima drove him back to his apartment, promising someone would drop off his car later and shoving him into the front seat. 

“I don’t know how you’re still alive. The guy everyone was describing must’ve been at least 6 foot 3 or 4. Not sure I believe you two shrimps were able to hold your own.” Tsukki smirked.

Hinata frowned. It was just a joke, but getting caught lying would be disastrous. “Maybe I’m stronger than I look.” 

“Doubtful.” 

As soon as he reached his bedroom, Hinata collapsed. His whole body was exhausted and falling asleep in dirty clothes was the least of his worries. A moment of rest was long overdue. 

~

Hinata woke in a cold sweat as the sun was starting to set. He rolled over with a groan, stopping short when he heard a crinkling. Reaching around, he pulled up an envelope. His name was printed on it in unfamiliar handwriting.

“What…?” 

_Tomorrow...you’ll know where._

He sat upright. Inside the envelope was a single card with the word ‘rooftop’ scrawled on it. _When did I get this? What if I slept through the meeting?_ Hinata brushed off the thoughts. He needed to see if the man was there. As quickly as possible, he made his way from his first-floor apartment to the rooftop of the building. It was empty. He groaned and scolded himself aloud, “Hinata you idiot.”

“Yeah, you are pretty stupid.” 

He jumped and looked over his shoulder to see the man perched on the ventilation unit. “You’re here!” 

“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” The man scoffed in his usual distorted voice and adjusted his hood. “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. You sleep like the dead.” 

“That’s not a funny joke right now. Wait did you go into my apartment? How do you know where I live?”

“I have my ways and I’m quite good with a lockpick. Besides, ever since your stupid ass decided to continue investigating, I’ve been keeping an eye on you.”

“That’s creepy. What are you, my shadow?” Hinata crossed his arms. “You know I could arrest you. You shot someone yesterday with my gun and you just admitted to stalking me.”

“I’m not stalking you and he shot me, too. Though I got him worse.” The man lifted unzipped his leather jacket to reveal a bandage on his shoulder. He chuckled as Hinata’s eyes widened, “Don’t worry, I know how to patch myself up.”

“Why’d you risk your life like that?”

“I’ve been trying to stop these murders. I wasn’t there when that man was attacked, it was unexpected. But when I heard he was alive, knew they’d come to finish him off.”

“They?”

“I promised you information. Considering no one seems to be looking for me, you held up your side of the bargain. I’ll tell you what I know but we shouldn’t stay out here.”

Hinata felt uneasy inviting the man back to his apartment. In all black and trailing a few steps behind, he really did look like a shadow. _Shadow? Well, I don’t know his name so that’ll do._

“If you won’t tell me who you are, then I’m going to just call you Mr. Shadow.” Hinata locked the door behind him. “So, Mr. Shadow, what do you know.” 

“You could have at least made it sound nice... like ‘The Shadow’ or ‘Shadow of Evil’,” The man sighed. “I’ll start at the beginning. The man you know as Washijou Tanji killed my father.”

“The bar owner?!” 

“Yes. He runs one of the largest drug smuggling and selling schemes in the country. He’s ruthless.”

“So this is about revenge? Why haven’t you killed him.” Hinata gulped as the man -- the Shadow -- glared at him from behind his mask. “I-I just mean you’re obviously above the law. A vigilante.” 

“I don’t want to be a killer. Besides, killing him would only result in an uprising. More people would get killed in the crossfire and I’m sure criminals would run wild. Plus, there’s...him”

“Him?”

“His name is Ushijima Wakatoshi. He works for Washijou and he’s the one who tried to kill you last night. Washijou has many allies and thugs working for him, but Ushijima is by far the strongest and most effective.”

“Most...effective?” The pieces were starting to fit together. “He was the killer in the other three murders, wasn’t he?”

The Shadow nodded. “I tried to stop him.”

“And you were warning me because you thought he’d come after me?”

“You’ve been persistent and I obviously haven’t been very good at protecting people.”

“How have you known about the attacks before? You must have known something or you wouldn’t have been there. Why didn’t you just report it to the police?”

“Hah. I have my ways but the police wouldn’t do anything. Washijou’s been arrested before and nothing ever comes of it. He probably has enough money to buy off every cop in this city.”

“But there must be some way--”

“You don’t think I’ve tried? I realized a long time ago that if something was going to change, it had to start with me. My dad died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time but the courts brushed it off, saying he was involved with all the drugs and violence. My mother and I begged for justice. When she died, I gave up on that, so I sought out ways to fight back. I can’t tell you more than that, though.”

“Look, I know you’re angry, but no one’s paying me off. I can help. Let me help.”

“No. That will make it worse.”

Hinata paused. _Don’t say it, don’t do that…_ “Then I’ll help you secretly. No one will know.” _Damn it._

“What?”

“I have access to information-- stuff even you can’t get your hands on. I can find all the information relating to the murders and even past crimes. It might not be much, but you’re going to need everything you can get to be a step ahead of them.” 

~

Kageyama was surprised. Hinata sounded fierce, strong. He almost agreed instantly, just from the pull of the other man’s words. _It’s too dangerous, but what excuse do I have? I can’t tell him I have access to most of that information, too._

“You don’t know what you’re getting into.” He growled, shocked at the sharpness to his own distorted voice.

“Yes. I do. It’s why I took this job. If I’m not able to do my job by following then rules, then I’ll do it your way.” 

_Well, having two people keep an eye on the police would be beneficial._

“And, I need to thank you for saving my life.”

_No, you don’t._

“I might be small and I wasn’t able to hold my own against Ushijima, but I know what I stand for.” 

_What is it with this guy? I’ve never seen him like this._

“Shadow, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll stay in my lane, just let me do what I can to help you.”

“Okay.” Kageyama pulled his hood lower over his face before extending his hand to Hinata. “I better not regret this.”

Hinata shook his hand with a determined look on his face. “You won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Another one? Well, Ch. 4 and 5 are shorter because this was all gonna be one chapter and then I decided splitting it up was better. Thanks for reading :)  
> (P.S. ch 5 has been edited ever so slightly but nothing much has changed)  
> (P.P.S. come find me on tumblr @lovessorrow)


	6. Unexpected

Getting shot in the shoulder? Not so hard. Trying not to regret taking on a self-proclaimed ‘side-kick’? Hard. Kageyama regretted the decision almost immediately. Hinata Shouyou was loud, annoying, handsome, distracting, and an unsuccessful detective. Given, there hadn’t been much time for him to prove himself on the force, but the cases he had worked hadn’t gone anywhere. But he was the only one who was stupid enough to help a vigilante solve a murder. Since their ‘agreement’, Hinata had been a ball of energy at work and in trying to contact ‘the Shadow’. Their working relationship escalated to constant annoyance -- if one of them wasn’t ready with a witty comeback or quick retort, then it was a brutal defeat. The playfulness masked the underlying tension that Kageyama could only explain as some weird connection due to their secretive work. While Hinata didn’t know that Kageyama was ‘the Shadow’, Kageyama couldn't help but keep a close eye on the man during their day jobs while trying to push him away when he reached out for vigilante work. Nonetheless, he noticed that despite outward appearances, they worked well together.

That was how they got here. Kageyama needed information. He’d begun to push harder into the data that was available to him as a member of the force to glean some sort of knowledge about Ushijima and Washijou’s whereabouts. It wasn’t long before he found that he didn’t have access to the files he needed or it would be too suspicious to request more information. 

“Are you sure this is the file you need?”

“Probably. Does it matter/ Can’t you requisition information from multiple relevant sources for your case?”

Hinata stood looking out at the horizon from the apartment building rooftop. The wind ruffled his hair as he frowned. “I mean… Yes. But this file isn’t exactly relevant.”

Kageyama reached out to take back the slip of paper with the case information written on it. “Fine. If you can’t help I’ll find another way to get it.” 

“No! I want to help. What’s the worst thing that can happen?”

~

Mumbling to himself, Hinata trudged down the hall toward his desk.

“What’s got you all…” Kenma gestured to the redhead’s expression and crossed arms.

“Huh?” Hinata jumped. “Oh. Nothing. Just… couldn’t get a file.”

“You couldn’t get a file? Why? If it’s relevant to the case why wouldn’t they give it to you?”

“It’s...uh… I guess it’s mostly just based on a hunch.”

“Well, they’re right. Shouyou, you need to stop trusting these ‘hunches’ of yours. Focus on the facts.” 

“I know.” He also knew the Shadow was not going to be particularly happy about this. 

That night, he unlocked his door, as agreed. It still made him uneasy, seeing the door swing open and not knowing if it was the visitor he anticipated or not. Though, the sight of the Shadow always made him feel more at ease. The man had saved his life. Hinata knew he didn’t really  _ know  _ the man but it felt like they had some sort of special connection. An understanding. Even so, he owed his life to the Shadow and he wanted to know the truth. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that the vigilante was trustworthy. 

“You didn’t get it?” The sharpness in the man’s voice jabbed at Hinata’s stomach. “Dumbass, why did I ask you?”

“Because I thought I could get it. I’m sorry, they’re just being strict about those case files. They’re old and full of things no one really wants to bring up.”

“I need them to be reopened. I need to know who they interviewed and what was said!”

“Is this because it was your father’s case? Is this really even relevant?” The accusation slipped past Hinata’s lips before he knew what he was saying. 

The Shadow practically radiated bitter anger. “Of course it’s relevant! Fuck. I’ll get them myself.”

“How!? You can’t just… steal files from the police.”

“I can. I will.”

_ Jesus Christ. He’s gonna get himself arrested. Or worse.  _ “Then I’ll go, too! I know my way around -- we’ll be in and out in a matter of minutes.”

“Are you stupid? You could lose your job. We  _ need _ you to have that job.”

“No, I know what I’m doing. Also, don’t forget that my friend was nearly killed because of this mess. Either you take me with you, or I’ll tell the chief what you’re planning.”

Silence. Hinata could feel the sweat trickle down his neck.  _ What the hell am I doing? He’ll call my bluff, for sure.  _

“Fine. Don’t get in the way.”

The two men waited a few days, planning their ‘heist’ and making sure there would be no problem getting the files. Things went surprisingly smoothly. Hinata even noticed that Kageyama had laid off their usual insults a little. It was a little disappointing to not have to interact with the tall man as frequently, but it did give him more time to think about the Shadow’s plan.

Once everything was in place, they set the plan in motion. Hinata stayed late at work under the guise of working on the case. Once he was the last one left in his office, he would head to the records room to meet the Shadow. They were responsible for meeting up there (how the Shadow got into the building, he didn’t know) but getting out would be the hard part. 

“Dumbass. I’m over here.” A voice whispered from across the room as Hinata entered. 

“Sorry. I’m coming. We should have a paper file and an electronic copy. No one will notice if the paper one goes missing for a bit. It should be over there.” He gestured to a metal shelve housing a number of boxes.

“Which one?”

“Dunno. Just start looking.”

“Jesus. We better hurry. But no lights, we don’t want to attract attention.” 

The sound of shuffling boxes and papers replaced their low whispers in the dark. A few minutes passed as they finally were able to tell which files they were looking at. 

“It should be… in that one, near the floor.” Hinata whispered.

“Then get it!  _ Now _ , Shouyou, before--”

_ Click _ . The overhead light flipped on, flooding the room with harsh fluorescent light. They both froze, hunched behind the shelves.

“Hm… That’s a very interesting file.” A man’s voice sounded from the doorway.

Hinata’s heart stopped.  _ No… _

“You know, I heard that man’s son changed his name. Got a job in law enforcement trying to get justice for his old man. Never thought he’d be such a disgrace to become a vigilante. But then again, I never thought my most dedicated detective would try to steal information from under my nose.” 

“Daichi…”

“Shouyou. Did you really think there were no people watching you or your  _ friend _ ?” 

“Daichi, I can explain. This isn’t what it looks like.” Hinata slowly leaned out from behind the boxes of files.

“And I don’t have a choice.” The shelf toppled as the Shadow hurled himself toward Daichi. A single shot rang out. Hinata felt warmth pool around his chest.  _ This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short one but I've been pretty blocked with this one... Thanks for reading, though! hmu on tumblr @lovessorrow!


	7. Exposed

Hinata dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder. _Caught. Gun. Shot. Bullet. Daichi._

“Hinata!” A voice called out from nearby but the ringing in Shouyou’s ears just seemed to get louder and louder. 

“Why? Daichi… What’s going on?”

“You… Tell me everything!” It was the Shadow’s voice, Hinata could hear him over the pounding blood in his ears and glanced up to see Daichi pinned against the wall. 

“Look, Kageyama, this isn’t what I wanted.”

_Kageyama?!_

“How’d you know? Did you know before now?!”

“I had my suspicions. I didn’t want to risk being wrong, though. It’s like I said; This isn’t what I want. You must understand. I have to protect my own.”

The thud of Daichi being pushed into the wall again was followed by a deep huff.

“You. Will. Tell. Me. Everything.”

“I can’t.” Sawamura coughed. “You have to understand.”

Hinata winced as the Shadow -- Kageyama -- drew his arm back and landed a heavy punch on Daichi’s jaw. He drew back again. “Stop!”

“Shouyou,” Kageyama paused. “I have to do this. I need the information.”

“No!” Hinata winced as he began to rise to his feet. “Please. I have to believe there’s still some of the old Daichi left in him. Take him captive for the night if you need to but don’t hurt him. Kageyama.”

Something in those steel eyes softened at the use of his name. “Hinata, I…”

The redhead swayed in place. “Ka...yama.” He looked down at his bloodstained clothes and hands and back at the two men before losing himself to darkness

~

A soft touch brushed through Hinata’s hair and he grumbled, barely conscious. 

“You’re okay now.” A voice said but he couldn’t quite place it and his eyelids felt like steel curtains, heavy on his aching face. “It’s all gonna be okay.”

Hinata could hear rustling and sounds in the background but the sound of those words caressed him and soothed his worry. “S’all… gon be… okay.” He whispered back. Once again, the touch returned as sleep dragged him back into darkness. 

~

Kageyama sat with his chin on his knuckles. The room was icy but it wasn’t because of the gentle draft from under the apartment door. Daichi hadn’t given him much to work with and he didn’t want to upset Hinata by using… other methods. 

Daichi met his steely gaze head-on. “Look, kid, I told you about the gathering. What else do you want? If one of us is alive then there will be hell to pay. Either you have to kill me, or you have to die or disappear.”

Kageyama didn’t answer. Said gathering was barely enough information to go off of. If he wanted to take down Washijou, he’d need more than a couple days to prepare. He’d need backup, information on who would be at the Eagle’s Nest, detailed maps of the area, security camera locations-- 

“W-where am I?” Hinata’s voice called from across the room. 

“Shouyou!” Kageyama hurried to the couch where the small man was curled up with his arm and shoulder wrapped in a ripped bedsheet. His bare chest was damp with sweat and still sporting a few streaks of dried blood.

“Kageyama… What?” Those brown eyes widened in recognition and Hinata sunk deeper into the cushions, thrusting his arms out. “You lied! You tricked me! Used me! Get away!”

Kageyama stumbled back and raised his arms in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Let me get you some water and maybe we should change that bandage. Just… don’t kill me.” He trudged to the kitchen of his apartment, thankful for the thin wall separating him from the living room. He grabbed a rag and a glass for water before leaning on the sink, exhausted. 

_How do I get myself in these messes?_

~

Hinata’s mind was racing. He’d been with the Shadow looking for information. They’d been caught. He’d been shot in the shoulder. _Kageyama_ was the Shadow. Not to mention, it was Daichi who shot him. 

Daichi.

He sat upright, wincing as his injured muscles tried to work. Daichi sat across the room. He was tied to an armchair and returning Hinata's shocked look with one of concern. 

“Are you okay, Shou? You took a pretty direct hit. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t you dare call me ‘Shou’ again. In fact, don’t even call me by my name.” Hinata spat.

“Look, I know you’re upset, but I didn’t have a choice. If you knew the whole story…”

“Maybe you should tell me then. I’ve got a ton of time while I wait for this bullet hole to heal.”

“I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“Apparently, I don’t know anything. I’m just a pawn in whatever crazy plan you’ve cooked up. Once I figure things out then it’s just - bam! Shot without a second thought. You could’ve killed me. I don’t know how I’m even alive since by the looks of this shit--” he gestured to the makeshift bed sheet bandage, “-- I didn’t go to a hospital.”

“Kageyama wanted to take you to get medical care but it would’ve been too risky for all of us. He brought you back here and did what he could to patch you up. Don’t be angry with him; he saved your life.” 

“Don’t be mad at him?” Hinata stood, the pain in his shoulder nearly swallowed by his rage. “What kind of saint do you think I am? That asshole made me think he was just this annoying harmless charming dumbass at work and then used me to get information! He lied to my face and pretended that being a vigilante was no biggie. Well, guess what? It’s a fucking big deal!”

“Hinata,” Kageyama whispered from the doorway. He looked like he was about to drop the water and sheets he was carrying. 

A slight pang of guilt jumped through Hinata’s chest. As the anger faded, the pain swelled and he collapsed back on to the couch with a grunt. 

The room was silent as Kageyama composed himself and entered the living room. He wordlessly offered the water to Hinata before ripping another piece of sheet and gently washing and changing the makeshift bandage. Once he was done, he moved away to a chair across from Daichi.

After what seemed like an hour, Hinata broke the silence and sat upright again. “We need to take them out.”

“Washijou? We don’t have that kind of power. Not now.”

“Daichi can tell us how to get an upper hand on them. I’m not waiting around for them to murder one of us.”

“I already told Tobio about the meeting at the Eagle’s Nest in a couple of days but that’s all the information I have. You’ll never be able to take them out on such short notice, especially with that injury.”

“Meeting? What meeting?”

Kageyama sighed. “There’s going to be a gathering of all Washijou’s people at the Eagle’s nest in four days. Daichi doesn’t know what it’s for just that people like Ushijima will be there. That’s not much to go on.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have to go and at least try to get more information. If we can’t fight them, we can do some recon-since.”

“I think you mean reconnaissance. Regardless, I don’t have a death wish.”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter, I’ll go get spy on them myself. If it’s just me, they won’t notice and it won’t be suspicious. Besides, what kind of idiot would try to take on a gang with a bad shoulder?”

“What kind of idiot indeed…”

“Shut up, Yama. You can’t stop me.” 

“Fine. If there’s nothing I can say to convince you, I’ll just have to go with you.” Kageyama caught Hinata’s annoyed glare. “And you can’t stop me.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Not to break up the old married couple’s fight but how do you plan on not getting caught?”

A moment of silence.

“I’ve got an idea.”

~

“This has got to be the _stupidest_ idea I’ve ever gone along with,” Kageyama mumbled under his breath. 

“Shut up. Maybe if your dumb butt had come up with something better, we wouldn’t have to do this. Or maybe if you hadn’t gotten me shot…”

“I didn’t get--” Kageyama was cut short by a hand over his mouth and a low hush from Hinata. 

Footsteps crunched across the gravel in the dark and the two men hunched behind a car. The parking lot of the Eagle’s Nest was busy, providing plenty of cover, but the outside of the building itself didn’t have many places to hide. 

“If we want to get any information at all, we’re gonna have to put these costumes to the test.”

Kageyama raised an eyebrow as he tugged at his clothes. “No one’s gonna believe that there are two hobos looting the dumpsters of a known gang-affiliated bar. Plus, if your hat falls off, your hair is so recognizable that you’ll be dead in an instant.”

“I’m going in with or without you. It’s dark enough and the makeup covers your notable features except for your eyes. We’ll be fine as long as they don’t get too close.” Hinata tiptoed out from being the car and began slinking from shadow to shadow in the direction of the back of the bar.

“Sometimes I wonder how a dumbass like you managed to become a cop.” Kageyama rolled his eyes but followed closely. Maybe such a stupid trick would work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see... Sorry, y'all :( I managed to just hit one roadblock after another and my inspiration disappeared into the void. Regardless, here's a little more of my favorite red-headed detective. Trust me, I do have answers for all these surprises and they will come in time. In the meantime, stay safe and sane out there and thanks for reading <3


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